Hidden in Shadows
by Pokepika's Haunt
Summary: Ash Ketchum travels to the Orre Region after losing in the Unova League, but her seemingly innocent trip takes a turn for the worse when she meets Wes, Rui, and Michael. Has the evil syndicate known as Cipher really returned? And what does all of this have to do with her pikachu? Fem!Ash fanfic, rated T for safety more inside-
1. EP 1: Hidden in Shadows PT 1

A/N. An idea that popped up based off of the hypothetical and luckily, very unlikely situation that Ash's Pikachu is actually a Shadow Pokemon. Mind you, I hope this never actually happens in the TV show, but I thought it interesting anyways, and I couldn't seem to find a fanfic out there that at least held some portion of this concept. If you find one like that, I'd like to read it.

Summary: After her defeat in the Unova League Ash decides to travel to Orre in search of new challenges, things however take a turn for the strange when, while resting at a small stand in the middle of the desert, she meets skilled trainers Wes and Michael, as well as their strange companion Rui. They claim that her best friend is a Shadow Pokémon, but Ash refuses to believe them. Is what they say true, or are they lying? And could it be possible that an old enemy has reared their ugly head again?

**Warning: Fem!Ash fanfic.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

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**EP 1: Hidden in Shadows PT. 1**

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Chocolate brown eyes gazed out with barely held excitement from behind short, soon to be horribly wind-swept locks of already messy black hair, watching with silent amazement as the familiar landscapes of dense vegetation and glorious cities and small, though prosperous towns transformed suddenly into sharp and jagged cliffs and mountains, and then just as quickly into seemingly endless expanses of desert, the winds changing just as quickly and to just such an extent as well. It was quite the contrast to what the young, eleven year old pokémon trainer was used to admittedly, having grown up and spent most of her life surrounded by dense vegetation and life, to only have it change so quickly into the exact opposite. But it also promised new things, and hopefully fun adventures for both her and her rather mixed party of pokémon that she currently held in her grasp. The prospect in of itself seemed to only make her more impatient to reach some form of civilization soon, as she tightened her grip on the soft brown feathers of the flying type she was currently using to get across the hot and dry sands of what was known as the Orre Region. It only spurred the pokémon into flying faster as it beat its broad wings twice before picking up speed.

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"**Pika!" **the familiar voice brought a smile to the young girl's face as she dismounted from the back of her pidgeot, feet coming to a crunching stop in the sand as she gave the large bird pokémon a gentle pat on the head for its efforts, before returning it to its pokéball for a long rest.

"You did great Pidgeot." She said to the small, round containment device in her hand, voice soft as she tucked it away for later before turning her attention onto the yellow powerhouse that was her starter pokémon and best friend. "So what do you think Pikachu? Think we can find something interesting to do while here?" she asked as she reached down to pick up the small electric type, giving it a small hug before allowing it to take its normal place on her shoulder as she walked towards the small, rundown train car that had been turned into a rest stop of sorts sometime in the past.

"**Pikachu!" **her friend called out as he rubbed a red cheek against his own trainer's affectionately, causing the young girl to giggle slightly as she took a seat at one of the bar stools, returning the gesture whole heartedly.

"Well ain't that a rare sight, if'n I ever saw one! So what can I do for ya, little miss?" a large, rough looking man wearing a rather gaudy bandana greeted as he turned his attention to the newly arrived trainer, a big, friendly grin on his face as he placed a menu down in front of her.

"Hmm… I'd like a hamburger with a side of French fries and a large soda please!" she said as she put the menu down after taking a few seconds to quickly skim over the laminated piece of paper.

"**Pika!"**

"Oh, and an omelet… With lots of ketchup." She added on for her partner, giving the electric mouse a scratch between the ears to show that they were both indeed listening to him.

"Ok, got it!" the man replied turning away to begin cooking up the ordered food. "So what's your name little miss, and what in the world would bring someone like you out to this desert?"

"The name's Ash Ketchum, and this is my partner Pikachu." She introduced, giving said pokémon a pat on the head before she continued, "I came to challenge the colosseums."

"I see." The man chuckled at her response, not turning away from what he was doing until he finally finished, setting the piping hot food down in front of the young girl and her pokémon, and watching as both began to dig in excitedly. "Well, you're still a bit far off if it's the colosseums that you're here for, but not too far all the same."

"That's good. So can you explain how the battles work in this region? I heard something about double battles from a friend of mine before coming here."

"Well sure. It's really just as you heard, in all honesty. All the trainers in this region do double battles, basically a trainer against another trainer, and instead of using one pokémon each, they use two."

"Ah."

"Yep, if you're not very good at them, then you better get good fast if you want to take on the colosseums. Otherwise your pokémon are going to get wiped out!" the man finished explaining, watching with a quirked eyebrow as the girl's pikachu all but drowned its omelet in what had to be a bowl's worth of ketchup so it was more red sauce made of tomatoes, rather than an actual meal to be eaten. He had a feeling that he might as well not have prepared the omelet at all and just given the small electric type a ketchup bottle to snack on instead.

"Cool, I like a challenge." Ash spoke up suddenly, dragging the man's attention from the ketchup infested sight in front of him and back towards her. "So do you know where the closest one is?"

"The closest would probably be the one in Phenac City." The man replied, reaching over into a nearby sink to pull out a dirty glass cup and begin cleaning it. "Just head west from here and you'll find it, you really can't miss the place, it's the only oasis for miles around."

"Ah. Ok, I got-"

"Rui, for the last time, you need to stop dressing up my pokémon in those stupid frilly bows!" their conversation was interrupted as a rough looking boy with sandy blond hair walked in through the entrance, looking no older than sixteen at most with sharp yellow eyes and clad in blue trench coat and tight, black pants. Not even a foot behind him, a young girl walked in around the same age, followed shortly their after by three familiar looking pokémon, and a young boy maybe a year older than Ash herself with wild, spiky red hair.

"They are not stupid Wes, they make them look cute!" The girl loudly objected, her voice borderline worthy of making a scene within the small rest stop.

"Cute? Cute? Half of the pokémon you stick those things on are boys for Arceus' sake!" the first boy, Wes, yelled out, voice dripping with a combination of disbelief and exasperation. "I can't even believe I'm having this conversation with you!" he finished, throwing his hands up in seeming defeat as he plopped he turned to face her, expression vehement and just as stubborn as the girl herself. They were about to continue further when the sound of laughter reached their ears, causing them to turn their combined attention onto Ash, who was currently working very hard, and failing exceptionally at trying to contain her laughter.

"I told you guys not to argue."

"Oh shut it, Michael. I'm shocked you're not yelling at Rui too, with what she did to your Aggron." Wes barked at the younger boy, looking completely exhausted from having dealt with their female companion.

"Jovi does the same thing all the time, and it's not just the Aggron either."

"Wes, Rui, Michael! Long time no see!" the rough man from before called out, officially ending whatever argument would've arose without his intervention, as he drew their attention towards him.

"Hey there Old Man. How's it going?" Wes replied, a grin coming to his face as he plopped himself down in the seat next to Ash, giving the man a one handed wave in the process.

"Good, what brings you three here?"

"Just decided to stop by really. Oh, and Michael wanted to stock up on pokéballs, seems he's gotten obsessed with those pokéspots lately and ran right out!" he replied, motioning with his head towards the aforementioned as said boy pulled himself into a seat as well.

"I see. Well, we just got a new shipment of some dive balls and ultra balls in. Take your pick!"

Nobody seemed to notice as the girl, Rui, seemed to gain a sort of fixation with Ash's Pikachu, the look she was giving it going completely overlooked as she stared at it with a strange sort of mix between fear and wonder.

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A/N. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and thanks for reading! Please remember to review and tell me what you think of it, see ya!


	2. EP 2: Hidden in Shadows PT 2

A/N. Episode 2; Chapter 2, enjoy please!

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

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**EP 2: Hidden in Shadows PT. 2**

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Shadow pokémon were the closest things to monsters she had ever come across during her life growing up in the lawlessness that was the Orre Region, closest because for one thing, it wasn't their fault that they acted the way they did, it was the humans who had created them out of pure greed and a desire for power that wasn't theirs to wield in the first place. The second was that she had seen the true monsters that walked so blatantly and confidently within the light of the day, despite the darkness that lay within their hearts, the people that had created the shadow pokémon in the first place, the ones that had taken those sweet and innocent pokémon that had never done any harm to anyone, and closed their hearts so that they were nothing more than mindless fighting machines, willing attack even their own trainers without a second thought because that was all that they were left to care about. In all honesty, she was happy that they had beaten the cruel organization that had started it all, laid to rest and their plans completely ruined not once, but twice now thanks to Michael's own intervention in the would-be disaster while she and her partner, Wes, had been traveling outside of the region.

It had never even crossed her mind that there might have been more dwelling outside of Orre.

Away from all the chaos and crime, away from Cipher, away from where Rui and Wes, or even Michael and his own Snag Machine, could find them, or even think to do so in the first place. Not only that, but in the hands of a clueless trainer who didn't know the danger that she had been dragging around with her. Rui had thought that all the shadow pokémon had been caught, it hadn't even once dawned on her that Cipher might have sent some outside, where they couldn't be controlled or properly observed. Why take the risk? It was their shadow pokémon as far as they were concerned, a mere tool to be used until it couldn't battle any longer. The majority had been within her own home region, there was no clue, Cipher hadn't left any sort of information indicating that there had been more. Neither the first, nor the second time that the cruel organization arose, had there ever been any information or record that there were more shadow pokémon to be dealt with, more victims to be saved.

Maybe they hadn't known that this one wasn't in Orre, maybe it had somehow slipped through their oh so observatory eyes.

The possibilities were endless really on how a shadow pokémon could have wound up traveling the world in the custody of a trainer who didn't know what it really was, an eleven year old little girl at that. But Rui couldn't deny what her eyes were seeing, what was sitting there right in front of her, or rather right on the other side of its trainer, gorging on what was at least three fully bottles' worth of ketchup drowning what could have been one of the Old Man's famous omelets. It was a shadow pokémon, a pikachu, but honestly it didn't really act like any shadow pokémon Rui had come into contact with. At least, not unless its heart was ready to be opened again, or close to it.

"-ui? Rui!"

"Huh?" the orange haired girl jumped slightly in her seat as she whipped around to face her sandy haired friend, the usually grinning boy looking at her with great concern obvious in his eyes. It took her a few seconds to realize that he must have been calling her for some time now. She must have been drowned within her own thoughts to not have noticed sooner. "Ah, sorry Wes. Guess I let my thoughts runaway with me." She gave a nervous laugh, hand coming up to rub against the back of her head sheepishly. She really hadn't meant for that to happen.

"Is there anything wrong? You don't normally space out like that unless…"

"Ah! Not here, not… I'll tell you later…" _'and hopefully before that girl leaves. We need to get that shadow pokémon purified!'_

"Ok, if you say so…" Wes was bothered now, and Rui honestly wanted to tell him, but if she said anything with so many people around, there could be a riot and the shadow pokémon could react badly. If it went into Hyper Mode without the trainer having knowledge of how to deal with it, and in such close quarters as the Outskirt Stand, people could get seriously hurt and they couldn't have that happening.

"Done! What about you Pikachu?"

"**Pika!" **Rui found herself jumping once again as the younger girl stood up from her seat, plate polished clean of food as she allowed for the electric type to clamber up onto her shoulder with what had to have been habitual by now. It seemed almost rehearsed with how easy both settled into such contact as the girl paid for the meal and gathered any stray belongings.

"Thanks for the meal! Now let's go challenge that colosseum!"

"**Pikachu!" **

'_Oh no! If she goes to the colosseum and competes with that pokémon-' _"Wes! Michael, c'mon!" she ordered, honestly so unlike her as she hooked both arms around her two male companions and all but dragged them bodily out of the rusty old gas station.

"Rui? What the hell's gotten into you?!" Wes questioned loudly as Rui ran across the desert, the trainer that had seemed to garner such an urgent reaction from his partner having long since left the area in search of said colosseum she had mentioned on her way out.

"That girl from before…"

"Yeah, what about her?" Michael questioned as he managed to finally yank his arm out from Rui's almost iron tight grip. "She seemed like a normal trainer to me, her pikachu seemed strong enough, but I don't think that would garner you having us rush right out of the stand like that."

"That's just it! That pikachu is a shadow pokémon!"

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A/N. So what do you guys think? Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and thanks for reading. Sorry if the beginning sounded a little redundant and as if Rui was thinking in circles. Anyways, please review and thanks again for reading, see ya!


	3. EP 3: Hidden in Shadows PT 3

A/N. Here's Episode 3 of Hidden Shadows, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the chapter!

**Disclaimer: I own NOTHING!**

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**Episode 3: Hidden in Shadows PT. 3**

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The man from the Outskirt stand really hadn't lied when he had mentioned the beauty of Phenac City in a passing conversation before she had left the rustic, abandoned train engine to find the colosseum of said city. It really was gorgeous, a growing oasis in the midst of a seemingly endless desert, and Ash truly felt excitement at the very sight of it. If the colosseum was really as difficult as the old man had said, then she was sure to have fun while in there. She could barely manage to make herself wait. But first she had to stop by the pokémon center to heal up her pokémon, especially Pidgeot, who had bothered to fly her all the way here in the hot, blazing sun. It wouldn't have been right otherwise.

Still, Ash had to admit that despite her excitement, things seemed a bit intimidating. The structures were new and unfamiliar to her, and though she was used to bustling cities to a certain extent, she was not use to this place for sure. Everything was so clean and new looking, and a lot of places didn't seem familiar at all. She couldn't entirely sure where the building she was looking for was, as there was no way for her to completely tell. None of the brilliantly white structures stuck out to her in any particular way to signify that they were a place of healing where one and their pokémon could rest for a while. It didn't help that she was too nervous to actually walk up to any of the people walking in the streets to ask, a rarity in itself that she wasn't entirely sure how to deal with.

"**PIKACHU!" **the voice came out as a shock as Ash turned around in near panic, automatically jumping to the worst conclusion as to why her dear partner would be calling out to her, until she realized that it was fine and not even that far away from her. Sighing with barely withheld relief she walked over to pick the little mouse up, giving it a somewhat tight squeeze in affection as she tried to find what may have caused such a reaction from her starter. The yellow mouse tugged at short black strands of hair as if to gain her attention again, which was always ready for it to have when it wanted, she would never ignore her pokémon in any way, shape, or form. They were too much like family for her. **"Pika-pi! Pikachu-pika!"**

As if to point out the most obvious thing in the world, her pokémon pointed up to the many roofs that sat high above her head, just as white as the walls that held them up, and drew her attention to what looked like a giant, holographic pokéball. She almost slapped herself for her stupidity at not having noticed such a detail sooner and immediately ran off in the direction of slightly long sought building, skidding to a stop as she finally got to the sliding door.

"Ohayo Nurse Joy!" she called, a greeting used purely out of habit from her old home region as she walked in, completely ignoring the odd looks that the occasional fellow trainer shot her as she approached the counter. It wasn't like she could really help it, old habits die hard as the saying goes, and this particular one was as old and deeply engrained as herself.

"Oh, good morning there, how can I help you?" the forever kind woman asked, a gentle smile on her face as the two bowed in politeness.

"Could you please heal my pokémon?" Ash asked, removing her pokéballs from her personage and placing them all on the counter, her pikachu next as it cooed at the familiar woman.

"Of course, just a moment please." The woman answered in return picking both the pokéballs and the small, yellow mouse up and disappearing somewhere into the back.

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Ash adored pokémon centers, both for what they stood for and the valiant women who ran the facilities with such kind smiles and friendly dispositions, so she never minded paying such places a visit. It was good for her pokémon and besides, the people within were usually very nice and helpful. What was a problem however, was the wait that she had to go through when her pokémon needed healing. She wasn't one raised to have much patience for anything really, despite her own mother's efforts to change the fact, and waiting was always difficult for her simply because she wasn't one to slow down. She preferred rushing about, using the almost endless amounts of energy she always seemed to have for something that she herself deemed productive. So though it was for a good reason, she quickly found herself bored out of her mind as she sat on one of the many benches within the lobby and staring at the holographic, scaled model of the very city she was currently wandering in.

She was so lost in whatever thoughts that she was having, she almost had a heart attack when somebody suddenly addressed her, barely managing to keep herself from falling out of her seat in shock. Her surprise was only furthered when she realized that the speaker was actually one of the people who had walked into the Outskirts Stand, the sandy blonde with the strange white band across his nose and almost glowing yellow eyes that mystified her to no end, having never seen the color on anything but a pokémon or cartoon character.

"Hey there." The older boy greeted, easily sliding into the spot next to her as he seemed to stretch, getting whatever kinks lay within his body before finally seeming to relax. Not far off from their location, stood the two people he had entered with back at that abandoned train station, the orange haired girl looking like a nervous wreck as she seemed to scan the pokémon center for something or another. The red haired boy wasn't far off, doing the same but looking a whole lot calmer as he leaned nonchalantly against a wall.

"Oh hi." She greeted, shaking her head in a strange gesture as she tried to gather her wits about her again. She obviously needed to start working on her observation skills, otherwise this was probably going to happen a whole lot, and she didn't much feel like getting scarred to death everytime she walked into a building and started concentrating on something.

"Sorry if I scared you there, I have a habit of being real quiet." The boy apologized, Ash wincing slightly at how obvious she must have been when he had showed up.

"It's fine." She assured, giving a sheepish laugh as she scratched habitually at the back of her head before suddenly getting really excited. "Hey, weren't you at the Outskirts Stand?" She knew the answer of course, she hadn't forgotten his and his friends' faces so soon, but she never liked awkward silences, and when it came to greetings such as these, they had a tendency to fall in such silences all too easily. She had become very good at keeping a conversation from dying by whatever means necessary when growing up, as conversation had been difficult for her to have back then, having been too dissimilar to the other kids around her age. She still didn't know why of course, but she also realized that her thoughts were running on a tangent again and away from the conversation at hand. Quickly reeling her wandering attention back in, she put her full focus back on the boy sitting next to her.

"Yeah, the name's Wes by the way, over there is Rui, and the redhead is Michael." As if to further the point of introducing both of his companions, he motioned for them to come closer, both doing so, if a bit hesitantly. They nodded in greeting, Ash easily returning the gesture with a small wave of the hand as she began to swing her feet about.

"Nice to meet you, the name's Ash." She greeted back with one of her characteristic smiles, all teeth and closed eyes that no matter how often she did it, always seemed genuine even though the whole gesture itself was usually used to throw people off. She knew that for a fact, as she had done it herself on multiple different occasions. You closed your eyes when you smile only because you know for a fact it won't reach your eyes, and that's the last thing you need if for people to stick around and bug you about it. Even if it is actually good for you in the end.

"Likewise, so what are you doing here in Orre, you don't look like you're from around these parts.

"M'not." She said with a shrug of shoulders, easily dismissing the fact that she was a foreign trainer as she continued. "I'm from Kanto, really though I haven't been home in a while. I actually came here right after my last little adventure through a place called Unova for a change of pace."

"And what would that change of pace be?" At the question, she couldn't help the confident grin that came to her face, causing the boy, Wes to quirk an eyebrow at her in further questioning as she seemed to get a little mischievous.

"The colosseums. I hear they're really tough, and so I came all the way here instead of going directly home to take a whack at them." She explained, moving her hand across the empty air in front of her to show what she meant.

"Heh, I see. Well why don't you and I have a pokémon battle?"

"Why's that?"

"Well, you're right about the colosseums being tough. What better way to see if you're truly ready to take them on by battling me?" he replied easily, hands thrown up as if it were the most obvious reason in the world. Ash's face scrunched up in slight suspicion as she observed Wes, looking him up and down for a moment before focusing on his eyes with a strange sort of intensity.

Wes himself became quickly unnerved when he noticed her eyes focusing on him. If he had ever felt like somebody was staring into his soul, then this eleven year old girl, Ash, was staring right _through _him. With all the age and experience of somebody who had seen enough to know that not everybody had the best intentions in mind, and that not everybody could be so easily trusted. Whatever she was looking for within him, she seemed to have found, as she finally broke eye contact to stand up and stretch.

"Sure, but you may have to wait a while. My pokémon are all being healed at the moment by Nurse Joy." She explained as she popped her neck, a hand lifting up to scratch at her head once again.

"Fine." The wait was really non-existent though, for as if on cue, Nurse Joy came out, Ash's pokéballs arranged neatly on a tray and her pikachu sitting obediently behind them, looking completely content and well rested.

"Oh there you are!" Ash said as she easily maneuvered around Wes and his friends, running up to Nurse Joy to greet the little electric mouse and to gather her pokéballs again. "Thanks again Nurse Joy."

"Not a problem at all dear. You be careful now, okay?" the woman said as she gave the younger girl an affectionate pat on the head, ruffling her already messy hair as she finished fastening all of her pokéballs to the belt around her waist, and her pikachu had climbed onto her shoulder. Ash nodded her head, rubbing cheeks with the electric type before returning to Wes' side.

"Okay, so apparently you don't have to wait." Ash replied with a mischievous grin on her face, looking for all intense and purposes, the child she really was. Returning the expression, Wes motioned with his head for her to follow him outside, the other two not far behind them.

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"Okay, so this will be full six-on-six double battle. You know what that is don't you right?" Wes called from his place on the other side of the battlefield. They were currently standing in an unused battlefield behind the pokémon center, one on either side as they face off against each other. Off on the sidelines, stood Michael and Rui, looking rather nervous for some odd reason, or at least Rui was. Michael seemed to be the most calm out of everybody present, and Ash couldn't help but note the metallic glint that came from his left arm, some sort of metal device wrapped securely around the limb.

"Yep! Both trainers have two pokémon each on the battlefield. Let me guess, first one to clear out the opponents field wins?"

"Yep." Wes responded to the question, hand flexing slightly as they inched towards the pokéballs lying hidden underneath the long blue trench coat he wore.

"Ok then! Pidgeot, Bulbasaur! I choose you!" the girl said, throwing out two of the original members of her team onto the battlefield. Both pokémon shook themselves slightly as they appeared in a burst of brilliant light, looking ready to tear into whatever pokémon her opponent sent out.

"A flying/normal type and grass/poison huh?" Wes murmured to himself as he sent out one of his own flying types as well as another. "Come on out Skarmory, Houndoom!" The two pokémon released a loud roar as they took to the battlefield, the metallic bird already in the air and ready while the flaming dog began growling, hackles raised and ready for combat as well. "Lady's first!" Suddenly Michael stepped up from the sidelines, leaving Rui on her own as he lifted both hands up, apparently taking on the impromptu role of judge for the pokémon battle they were having.

"Let the battle begin!" he called out, rolling his eyes as Wes seemed to nonchalantly brush off the challenge at hand.

"Lady's first!"

"Fine, but don't go crying when you wind up losing!" Ash replied, a near manic grin on her face now as pointed forward. "Pidgeot, they seem a bit too sleepy, let's wake 'em up with Hurricane! Go!" The large bird screeched in reply before flapping its wings. A strong wind was kicked up, similar to a gust, before it suddenly got a whole lot worse, a mini tornado of sorts suddenly flying across the field.

"Whoa, quick get out of there!" The two pokémon were quick to attempt an escape, the dark/fire-type being a little slow and getting caught on the side as the strong funnel of overpowered wind disappeared, leaving a rather nasty bruise behind. "Houndoom! You okay?" Wes couldn't help the wince that came to his face at the sight of the injury, gaze seeming to drift over to Rui and Michael, who both shook their heads as if to reassure him of something. It was miniscule however, and Ash completely missed the gesture, far too focused in the battle to take notice of anything going on outside of it. The dark/fire-type growled in assurance, giving the injury a quick lick before refocusing its attention on the battle at hand. "Great! Skarmory, let's return the favor! Use Steel Wing! Houndoom, Flamethrower!"

"Pidgeot! See if you can blow that Flamethrower back! Bulbasaur, use Vine Whip to stop Skarmory!" Wes' eyes widened at the commands, watching with astonishment as both pokémon managed to do exactly as told. Her bulbasaur easily taking hold of the steel bird and keeping it in the air, unable to go anywhere at all, while the flaming attack was blown out like a candle. "Great! Now Bulbasaur, throw Skarmory into the air! Pidgeot, you know what to do!" both pokémon cried out in agreement as Bulbasaur slammed the steel-type into the ground before throwing into the air, stunning it enough for her own flying-type to fly up from below and hit it with a Steel Wing of its own. Skarmory cried out in pain as it was left to plummet helplessly to the ground, hitting the earth with a resounding thud before slowly picking itself up.

"You okay Skarms?" he called, using the admittedly ridiculous nickname he had given the steel-type when he was younger and it had belonged to another trainer. The pokémon screeched in reply, trying to look big despite its injuries. "That was a pretty good combo. I didn't actually expect your bulbasaur to be able to stop Skarmory like that. It's stronger than it looks." Wes complimented as he seemed to eye the grass-type contemplatively. "Is that your starter by any chance?" he asked. She really couldn't blame him for the question, in Kanto, the normal starters were Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle. Unless one had a friend or family member from another region who was willing to spoil a just starting trainer a little, they were what one was usually stuck with. Ash had been a special case of sorts however, as since she had woken up late for her journey, she hadn't been able to get one of said starters until much later, and she hadn't had anybody to gift her with a pokémon from another region. She was just so lucky that Prof. Oak had been kind enough to give her Pikachu.

"Nope, I caught this guy in the wild. My starter is one of my best buds in the whole wide world, Pikachu." Ash said, giving the aforementioned yellow mouse a pat on the head as she stated it loud and proud for all to hear. Her answer seemed to leave all three in a state of suspended contemplation. She almost hadn't noticed, too caught up in assessing her opponents pokémon to see how much longer it would take to bring them down. She was curious when she finally noticed, but there was a battle going on, she'd have to sate her curiosity later when her pokémon weren't facing off against another and needing all of her attention to win.

"I see…" Wes murmured quietly to himself, eying the electric-type as though it was something to be wary of, before diverting his attention back onto the battlefield. _'If what Rui said was true… And what this kid said was right… Then this might be a bit more difficult than originally thought…But still-' _"Skarmory, get ready! Go as high into the air as you possibly can, Houndoom, charge up your energy, we're going for a big attack!" He may not have been facing a shadow pokémon, but if he wanted to, he'd have to hurry up. The longer he prolonged the battle, the more of a chance there would be for said shadow pokémon to slip from his grasp. "Skarmory! Sky Attack! Houndoom, Overheat!"

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A/N. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and thanks for reading! Please leave a review and see ya!


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